Looking for online help in deciding on a real-world weekend getaway or lazy Sunday-morning activity?

Most people are familiar with sites such as TripAdvisor and Yelp that provide reviews of hotels, restaurants and other businesses.

A few other options that haven’t received quite as much attention can go a long way in helping users discover unique activities in the community, like 3-D dodge ball and cardio tennis.

LiveLifeLocal, launched in March, provides short summaries and photos of activities entered by its crowdsource of users and separated by city and state.

There are about 2,000 activities listed nationwide, with more than 100 in Colorado, one of the top states on the site in terms of entries.

Somewhat surprisingly, the site was created by insurance provider Safeco. The Seattle-based company said the site reflects its operational model of selling largely through independent agents who are local, small-business owners, including about 150 in Colorado.

“At its core, we want to keep this pretty straightforward as a quick give-and-go sort of website,” said Eric Trott, a Safeco vice president.

All that’s needed to sign up to make an entry is an e-mail address and password. Other than a big Safeco logo, the site doesn’t market or sell users on services tied to the activities.

“One of our key objectives is to celebrate the local things that are a little unusual,” Trott said.

For example, in Seattle and Minneapolis, site entries have uncovered a growing trend of people doing yoga on their paddle boards.

Another online tool that can assist with activity planning is Google Street View, a feature within the search giant’s online mapping and directions service.

Street View began in 2007 in five cities as part of Google’s attempt to create a mirror digital world by capturing everything in the real world and putting it online, said spokeswoman Deanna Yick.

The process of sending a car with multiple cameras through a community and stitching images into panoramas can take several months.

About three years ago, Google created the Street View Partner Program in which it partners with an attraction that has areas where its cars couldn’t reach, like a zoo or ski resort. Instead of cars, Google would attach cameras to a tricycle or snowmobile to create 360-degree street-level imagery of the attraction.

In Colorado, Street View partners include the Denver Zoo and several of Vail Resorts’ ski resorts, including Beaver Creek and Breckenridge.

“It’s a really a great tool for people who are planning vacations and planning to travel to really get a sense of place,” Yick said.

Denver Zoo and Vail officials said they were contacted by Google to participate in the program and jumped at the opportunity.

Google also partnered with the University of Colorado and a number of other colleges, which allow prospective students and parents to check out the campuses before their visits. Google covers the cost of capturing the images in return for receiving access to a partner’s trails and pathways.

Zoom in on a neighborhood and a ranking of area shops and restaurants is displayed. The site updates regularly to show which activities and locations are hot. Last week, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts was rising while retailer H&M was falling.

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